Besides being Christmas day, I met Khushbu’s parents for the first time. On the flight back to Chicago, I realized I wanted to propose in a different but special way. Then on New Year's Eve when Vishal and his friends came to Chicago and we began brainstorming and ultimately came up with the idea of a Flash Mob proposal. Afterwards I kept contemplating about the idea since it sounds great in theory but in reality it would take a lot to get it done. After few days of seriously thinking about it, I started reaching out to my friends and began planning for the Flash Mob. I wanted to propose in New York because that’s where we first met. After a month of crazy planning, I realized I would be relying on more than 100 friends to make the flash mob possible. When both parents met in Houston, Khushbu suspected that I would propose then, but I had other ideas. On my flight to New York on February 10^th, a lot of emotions and thoughts were through my head because I knew what a huge weekend it was going to be.

Friday February 10^th, 2012 Rahul and I had planned a surprised birthday dinner for my mom…she didn’t know he was coming in on Friday. She thought he was coming in on Saturday February 11, 2012 for the proposal and staying Sunday February 12^th, 2012 for the puja. She was delighted to see him and was surprised to know that Rahul and I would be cooking dinner together. To add to the surprise, I also had some of my close friend attend the birthday dinner.

The entire evening I was just glad my mom was surprised and that dinner was delicious! I had no idea that during the same evening Rahul had already showed the ring to my parents, Harsh, and my close friends.

Saturday February 11^th, 2012 

My friends and I had made plans to have a lunch together the next day (another plot since this was just an excuse to get me to times square for the proposal) however it had started snowing that morning and I was really exhausted from the working the whole week and planning mom’s surprise birthday dinner. I didn’t want to have lunch…I just wanted to stay inside and be warm! However true friends aren’t just for show…first Nikita called saying she is really looking forward to lunch since she needed a break from her projects! Then Priya and Mala said that they have some friends they need to meet up in the city after lunch. So lunch plans couldn’t be canceled. I had no choice but to agree…but I was going to stay in my comfortable clothing and sneakers with my hair in a ponytail! All of the sudden everyone had an opinion on what I was wearing and kept insisting I had to change and look “more presentable”…I was getting scolded from everyone…it was strange! I agreed to change and I'm very glad I did, otherwise I would have looked like I just woke up on the biggest days of my life.

As we go to lunch everyone was either texting or speaking on the phone… and I thought “what was the point of coming to lunch and more importantly making me change if everyone is so busy.” After lunch we walked around and to Times Square in the cold and again I kept thinking “if we were going to do all this walking what was wrong with my sneakers”! We get to Times Square and Nikita points out an Indian girl doing a dance performance…I looked and then looked away… she pointed it again and I told her “what’s the big deal we live in NYC people do dance performance on the streets all the time” then one girl became three girls and then Priya and Mala joined in. At this point I knew something was going to happen and was surprised to see that they knew the steps! My heart was beating faster and faster as more people kept joining in…people I recognized and everyone was so well coordinated. My legs were starting to lose all feeling. Then all of the sudden Rahul joined in! He was supposed to be in Chicago for a meeting! I started to slowly inch back. I could feel Darshini’s hand on my back stopping me… I knew he didn’t dance and for him to do such a gesture was unbelievable to me. I was shaking, my palms were sweating and my heart beats were out of sync. It almost felt too good to be true. I can’t fully describe what I was feeling at the time, there were so many emotions running though me. The entire experience was so surreal. I can’t believe how many people had a hand in pulling the proposal together. It took hours of preparation and months of dedication, all for one person. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would get such a proposal. I had thought it would happen over dinner or the next time both families were together in one place. I was completely taken back by the amount of thought and detailed planning Rahul put in this and the efforts it took from everyone near and far. I guess fairytales still happen for girls like myself.

Sunday February 12^th, 2012

I was astonished to find out the full details of the proposal and of how many knew about it, basically everyone but me. I was stunned to hear that my mom was able to keep such a huge thing from me. She usually tells me EVERYTHING! Now that I look back, the days leading up to the proposal were peculiar to say the least; everyone was acting strange‐ I didn’t hear from my close friends as Much. Initially I thought it was due to my work schedule, but now I know they were all busy planning and preparing for the big weekend. Rahul was all over the place with the things he was telling me, like how he was going to be traveling back and forth between Chicago and NY all weekend. I thought we were only surprising my mom, but I was the one who really ended up being pleasantly surprised.!

This proposal wouldn’t have been possible without…


Lastly, thanks to all the dancers for participating in the flash mob. Memories for life!